CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron today faced down critics on the right of the party, insisting there would be no return to the policies of the past.

Speaking ahead of his first speech as leader to the Tories' conference in Bournemouth, Mr Cameron vowed he would not offer voters unfunded tax cuts at the next election.

While his "instincts" were for lower taxes, his economic priority was stability, not reducing tax bills.

And he said that the Conservatives would fight the next election from the centre ground.

Mr Cameron is facing pressure from Tory traditionalists who want him to commit the party early in this Parliament to big tax cuts.

But he today told BBC1's Sunday AM: "There are some people who, when they say they want more substance, what they mean is they want the old policies back. Well, they can't have them.

"We've fought elections before on up-front unfunded tax cuts, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going down that path."

He added: "It's very important that people know I'm not going to flash up unfunded tax cuts up front. Stability comes first."

In the first of two addresses to the conference later today, Mr Cameron will praise the "magnificent achievements" of Margaret Thatcher's tax-cutting administration but say that the priorities of the electorate are different today.

Comparing the task of preparing for the upcoming election with building a house, he will say that Tories must lay out a "solid foundation" of principles before developing detailed policies.

And he will attempt finally to lay the ghost of Lady Thatcher's reported comment that "there is no such thing as society", by saying society has a crucial role to play in making Britain better.

He will tell delegates: "Our party's history tells us the ground on which political success is built. It is the centre ground, not some bog on the fringes of debate but the solid ground where people are.

"The centre ground is where you find the concerns, the hopes and the dreams of most people and families in this country."

In today's Sunday AM interview, Mr Cameron insisted he did not want to "turn the clock back to 1997" and acknowledged Tony Blair's record as Prime Minister was not all bad.

He conceded that the Tories had "got it wrong" on the minimum wage and said he would keep it, along with other successful Labour initiatives like an independent Bank of England, if he came to power.

Mr Cameron said he would continue to resist pressure to lay out a full policy platform at this stage in the Parliament, with as much as three years to go before the next election.

"I'm not going to be pushed around on this issue of pulling out policies too early," he said.

This week's conference will establish the core principle of "social responsibility" on which the Tory agenda will be built, he said.

His agenda would be driven by the aim of trusting ordinary people to make decisions about their own lives.

"What we need is a revolution in social responsibility, giving power to parents, to teachers, to people who work in hospitals, to local government as well," said Mr Cameron.

Challenged on whether - with his liberal leanings on tax and the environment - he was really a Conservative, he responded: "Yes, absolutely.

"If I look at a problem, I don't just think: 'What can the Government do?' I think: 'What more can people do themselves? What can society do? What can we do before we reach for the levers of regulation and legislation?'"